Apatosaurus
Apatosaurus is one of the most famous of the giant Jurassic plant-eaters.It is a huge, conspicuous animal that lives in herds and usually lives near lakes and other water sources. It feeds on tree foliage and also low vegetation. Each adult needs at least half a ton of food each day. Another massive sauropod of InGen's, the Apatosaurus is a massive sauropod Moving through the jungles of Isla Nublar in small herds of five to six and placidly browsing on high-up vegetation, these massive browsers enjoy a symbiotic relationship with Parasaurolophus. The hadrosaurs' herds move alongside the sauropods, using their better vision to warn their massive companions of danger before huddling beneath the Apatosaurus' bulk for protection. Name Meaning Apatosaurus means "deceptive lizard". Anatomy Apatosaurus is a fairly typical member of the diplodocid family - long neck, pillar-like legs, long tapering tail and enormous size. It had, like the other family members, peg-like teeth in a head that seemed very small for such a large creature. Compared to Diplodocus, Apatosaurus has a shorter, thicker neck, and a larger, heavier body. There is much speculation about how much these creatures needed to eat and how such a small head could ingest enough food to fuel such a large body. Some scientists have stated that these huge, small-headed creatures would have needed to eat every waking moment in order to provide enough food to keep such a large body alive. Apatosaurus seemed to have every adaptation needed for continuous eating, including having nostrils on the top of its head, so breathing would not interfere with eating. Despite looking defenseless other than its huge size, the Apatosaurus tail was a formidable weapon: it was like a giant bullwhip, and could snap with enough force to shatter bones of attacking therapods like Allosaurus or Ceratosaurus. Timed well, it could probably kill a full grown Allosaurus outright with a blow to the head or cause severe injury after hitting the sides of the therapod. In order to facilitate the processing of food, which it could not chew with its teeth. Apatosaurus probably swallowed stones that it kept in a gizzard similar to that found in a chicken. The tough plant fibers would spend time in the gizzard stewing and grinded up by the stones. Appearance and Size Apatosaurus has gray skin with dark blue striping and dark tan on its underbelly and portions of its face The Apatosaurus reaches full adult size in 10 years. It was a huge, long-necked dinosaur, longer than two school buses and weighing as much as 7-16 elephants. Creation Apatosaurus was recreated by InGen for the Masrani Global Corporation's Jurassic World, their new dinosaur zoo. Apatosaurus has gray skin with dark blue striping and dark tan on its underbelly and portions of its face. Much like the cloned Brachiosaurus, it chewed its food unlike the original Apatosaurus ''rather then swallowing leaves and stones that helped the digestion, lacked the speculative spines that possibly went down the back, and lighter build to its body. History Possible Recreation Before Jurassic World? In ''The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Ian and Kelly Malcom and Sarah Harding pass through the rib cage of a large dinosaur. Some fans believe this to be Apatosaurus and they are supported by the fact that scene 145 of the film script mentions Apatosaurus among the skeletal remains. Though the femur near the rib cage does match Apatosaurus, the script also mentions apatosaurs in scene 42 when the InGen Hunters were capturing dinosaurs for Peter Ludlow, when in the final film Mamenchisaurus appears instead. This makes the existence of Apatosaurs on Isla Sorna uncertain. However, the inside of the Isla Nublar Field Lab has an x-ray of a skull of a member of Diplodocidae, the group of sauropods that Apatosaurus belongs to. Possibly hinting that Apatosaurus were indeed recreated before Masrani's dinosaur park Jurassic World. Jurassic World (2015) Apatosaurus was recreated by InGen for the Masrani Global Corporation's Jurassic World, their new dinosaur zoo. Apatosaurus has gray skin with dark blue striping and dark tan on its underbelly and portions of its face. Much like the cloned Brachiosaurus, it chewed its food unlike the original Apatosaurus. Their herds lives in the Gallimimus Valley, the Gyrosphere, and the Cretaceous Cruise, alongside Stegosaurus, Microceratus, and 100 other prehistoric species. Some of the juveniles also lived in the Gentle Giants Petting Zoo. Isla Nublar Incident (2015) An Indominus rex attacked six Apatosaurus during her rampage, killing five and fatally injuring one. Owen Grady and Claire Dearing found these Apatosaurus and comforted the injured dinosaur, settling her down when she attempted to rise up, upon which she died peacefully. The death of such a harmless and docile creature caused Claire much sorrow, which was mixed with horror when they discovered the five more dead ones. The discovery of these Apatosaurus made Owen realize that the Indominus was hunting for sport instead of for survival. It's confirmed there's some surviving Apatosaurus in Isla Nublar. Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom (2018) The Apatosaurus had survived on Isla Nublar after 2015. The Apatosaurus was first seen during the stampede during the Mount Sibo eruption many were seen. One was briefly seen in one of the trucks while being transported to the ship. They were never seen again until they broke out of the Lockwood Manor. At least 4 were saved by Mercenaries. Abilities Strength and Combat Much like Jurassic Park's Brachiosaurus, Jurassic World's Apatosaurus ''would stand on its' hind legs and could scare off a predator under its feet when frightened or reach high up in the treetops. In addition, they can use their whip-like tail to hit predators and knock them out or even kill them. However, these defenses weren't enough to save them from the ''Indominus rex. Durability and Stamina Being large herbivores, they have durable bodies. When one was slashed by the I.rex many times, it was able to survive for a while before succumbing to its wounds. Agility and Speed They are able to use their tails as whip making these dinosaur flexible enough to battle and able to swing their long necks around. By their type of size this dinosaur is unlikely to run fast from predators. Behind the scenes The Apatosaurus skull seen on the Jurassic World website does not belong to the dinosaur at all, rather it belongs to a brachiosaurid sauropod like Brachiosaurus. Furthermore, its icon on the Jurassic World website and the Holoscape is of Brachiosaurus as well. In the storyboard for Jurassic World Apatosaurus' relative Diplodocus was originally supposed to appear before Apatosaurus was chosen. The boy that hugs the small Apatosaurus in Jurassic World is played by Bryce Dallas Howard's own son. Category:Dinosaurs Category:Sauropods Category:Alive Category:Escaped Dinosaurs